Usman Baba Pategi
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
20 May 1942
Usman Baba Pategi | |
|---|---|
| Born | Usman Baba 20 May 1942 |
| Died | 12 November 2023 (aged 81) Kaduna, Nigeria |
| Other names | Samanja, Mazan fama |
| Citizenship | Nigerian |
| Occupations | Soldier Actor Broadcaster |
| Years active | 1985-2023 |
| Known for | Introducing Hausa comedy-films in Nigeria (known as Samanja) |
| Spouse | two surviving of three wives |
| Children | 20 |
| Father | Etsu Usman Tsado (Patako) |
| Relatives | Late Nakordi Patigi (Alhaji Jibril Taka Pategi), Etsu Pategi Ibrahim Umaru Chatta (brother) (d. 2019) present Etsu Pategi Umar Bologi II (nephew) |
Usman Baba Pategi (20 May 1942 – 12 November 2023), also known as Samanja Mazan Fama, was a Nigerian actor. Together with Yusuf Ladan, Mamman Ladan and Idi Jibril, an NTA staff introduced the Hausa comedy known now as Kannywood, Northern Nigerian films or Hausa films in the 1980s to the Northern audience.[1][2][3]
Usman Baba Pategi was born on 20 May 1942, into the royal house of Pategi Emirate in Pategi, Northern Nigeria. He was the son of Etsu Usman Patako late King of Pategi. He started his early education at Pategi Primary School and then went to Ilorin Middle School. Then later on he went to Kaduna to live with his uncle Alhaji Audu Bida whose assistant he became at home. He also worked with the public works department in the mechanical store, before joining the Northern Broadcasting Corporation, (NBC) in Kaduna.[4]
Pategi joined the Nigerian Army in the 1960s where an Army captain during the Nigerian civil war came looking for youth in Northern Nigeria to volunteer. He left the Broadcasting Corporation to join the army and trained at the Signal Training School, Apapa. He served under General Sani Abacha and General Sani Sami. Later he retired in 1985 and went on to an acting career in drama at the FRCN Kaduna where he also directed and wrote movies. Mostly he was known as Samanja Maza Fama, meaning Sergeant-Major (SerMajor) due to the experience he got in his army career.[5][6]
In 2010, he was in India for surgery for a heart illness which later N1.5 million was given by the Chairman Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, which was reported by the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN).[7]
Pategi is one among the notable Nigerian actors known as (Samanja) and Chika Apala known as (Zebrudaya) mostly in the film industries and were guests of honour at the dinner of art theatre in the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP).[8][9]